Namaste

With song titles like ‘Transcendental Consciousness’, ‘Brhama-Vishnu-Shiva’ [sic] and ‘Om Shanti’, we are clearly in California meets India territory. Rahul Sharma is a terrific santoor player (the multi-stringed Indian dulcimer) and Kenny G has carved out a successful career as a star saxophone player, even if his playing tends towards the genteel and overly tasteful. This is a fusion that would work fine as background music to sipping frappuccinos in a San Francisco coffee shop but struggles to say anything either new or that interesting.

A third wheel in this album is producer-mixer Marc Burrows of Bimbo Jones, operating here under the name of Kid Tricky. He provides some understated beats and ‘chill mixes’ but can’t disguise the paucity of ideas on offer here. There are one or two rather good tunes like ‘Brhama-Vishnu-Shiva’ but more tedious ones like ‘Dance of the Elephant God’ (you feel the marketing department rejected a mention of Ganesh, as the focus groups wouldn’t stand for it). This has neither the refinement of Indian classical music nor the fabulously gaudy vulgarity of Bollywood. There is no doubt a considerable audience for this kind of fusion, perhaps the sort of people who bought Deepak Chopra’s versions of Rumi. But for those looking for spice or new inspiration it’s unlikely to be their musical cup of chai.